


The Hunt

by tubendo



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Moral Ambiguity, One Shot, Original Fiction, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:41:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24056149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tubendo/pseuds/tubendo
Summary: Two siblings are made to do something they wouldn't have chosen to otherwise. Proving oneself requires doing something unheard of, and they are willing to do it, despite the questions they have.
Kudos: 2





	The Hunt

_"Myeyngós pyi eykéyng, feyngós kisa rustox tyek. Feys kisa yinotina pyi shoshua kars we."_

* * *

The brother and his sister did not want to leave the comfort of their village. The warmth of the campfire was something that both of them took comfort in, but their elders told them that they had to. To hunt pigs was a great honour, and as they were old enough to do so by themselves; they were to leave at midday, find a piglet and bring it back to the village by nightfall.

Such a journey would be strenuous, but the brother declared he was not afraid; he would find a piglet and take it back, no matter the frustrations it might bring for them. He had asked them why they were not to kill the piglet, or not just kill an adult hog, like the older, more capable hunters would. Their elders could only say that they were needed; raising pigs was something neither of them thought to be a good use of time, but they could not argue. Those wise and old enough to make decisions were never wrong; if they had been, there must have been disagreement.

The sister did not think the same as her brother; she thought that taking a piglet would be cruel, and that they were better off leaving them alone. They had food, they had shelter; she could not see what need they had for a piglet. The elders had chided her, and told her that she was weak to think that they were not right to take a piglet.

She did not complain again, and her brother did not think to chide her; if their elders could chide her, he could not. The years he held over her were nothing, and if he tried to mock her, she would wind him with a quick punch to the gut. Though she did not want to harm others for no reason, her brother certainly liked to give himself reasons to be punched.

* * *

The sun was still high in the sky as they walked through the woods; the trees covered their line of sight in all directions, and though it might have been eerie, both siblings thought it was far better than open fields. Anywhere they could be seen easily was not safe for them to traverse; they both knew that, and that is why they had to be quick on their feet.

The sister was not as fast as her brother, because she was the one carrying the ropes and net over her shoulder; when they reached a slope, he got faster, and she was unable to keep up. He looked back at her, and gestured for her to hurry. She didn't want to shout at him, not yet; she was the one carrying what they needed to ensnare a piglet, yet he thought she was slow. He took their orders a little too seriously; getting back by nightfall would be a challenge, but they knew the woods well. They wouldn't take too long to reach the nests of the pigs. They lived down in the valley, where the rivers ran slow and their people no longer lived.

"You don't need to run so fast." she chided her brother, who looked back at her with distaste.

His nostrils flared, and he snarled at her, obviously showing that he thought she was wrong, "Do you want to fail?"

"I'm still walking." she simply told him, gesturing ahead of them, "Watch where you're going. I don't want to have to tend to you after you twist your ankle."

The brother wanted to argue against his sister's words, but decided to relent; she wasn't slow because she was incompetent. If anything, she was too competent, and that worried him. He was the one who was meant to be tough, and he didn't want to fall over, hurt himself and act like a fool. So he kept his eyes ahead of them, not even thinking to look back again. His sister did not relent in her pace, and told him without having to say a word. She wanted to find a piglet and be done with it.

* * *

The first crossing was not a challenge; the creek was shallow, their boots only getting a little moist as they strode through it without a care in the world. They were more concerned by what might live by the creek. They didn't see another soul, though the prints on the ground suggested otherwise.

"Something's been by." the brother assumed, kneeling over by the prints that clearly imprinted into the silt bank of the creek.

His sister gestured at the tracks as a whole, which led down the length of the river, "Maybe it was just other hunters." she guessed, his eyes turning back glare into her own; he didn't like to show fear, so instead, he preferred to give her anger.

"Or maybe it was pigs? We need to be careful." he warned her, with a tense tone, "We need to be quick. We can't be seen."

"They won't hurt us." she suggested, the brother rising back to his feet, thinking his sister was a fool to think as she did.

"Have you listened to a word the elders have said?" he questioned her wit, the sister crossing her arms, not amused by her brother's insults.

"Don't take out your shit on me." she demanded, knowing that he was afraid, "If you're really that scared, then go back to the village."

He turned around and strode up the slope of the riverbank, not wanting to continue their conversation, "I'm not afraid." he growled, his voice heavy and acted out; she too was afraid, but not for the same reasons.

She didn't want to kill a piglet; she didn't think they deserved it, and she thought perhaps her brother would do it. Maybe for fun, maybe to take out his anger. She knew that hunters went for pigs, but piglets, that was something else; her brother might treat them the same, which was just stupid.

* * *

The brother sighed with relief, looking upon a clearing that was empty. Empty in the sense that nothing was there to try and attack them; the sight was not, however, a good one. He could see strewn old huts, all around; it was an old village, and he didn't know how long it had been decaying for, but the burnt out huts he could see told him it couldn't have been that long ago. He didn't try to think about it, what might have happened; that would only make him angry. He didn't want to get angry, not for real, in front of his sister; she didn't deserve to see that.

He looked back at her, and saw her own reaction; she looked even worse about it than he did, but that didn't mean that she was going to give up. She hated giving up, if only because he would always chide her when she did. Relent, weakness, cowardice; they were all the same to him, and he knew that they all had to be strong. Even when they were young, uninitiated, unable to fend for themselves. This hunt was a way to prove they were capable, and more than anything he wanted her to be capable. He knew he was, but he needed her to be; he wanted her to be safe, before anything else. Slow feet made a dead man or woman, that was what they had told him. He believed the elders, and they had the scars to show their truths.

"There's no pigs here." she spoke up, "We're going to have to get lower." she concluded, the brother clenching his hands tightly shut; he knew what was down lower, and he didn't want to get near any of it.

All they needed was a piglet, they weren't asking for any more trouble than that.

* * *

When they finally reached their destination, where they knew there would be pigs, and with them piglets, they were forced to crouch and crawl, hiding from the pigs. They didn't want to startle them, or agitate them, so they'd have to be as quiet as possible. The grass was long, and thus, they could hide under it, slowly moving toward the pigs. The siblings could hear them making all the noises pigs made, and they didn't pay attention to them; it wasn't like it meant anything.

Crawling through grass at any other time would be utterly humiliating, but in their current situation, it was the safest, most reasonable thing to do; the brother felt no shame as he gestured toward his sister, asking her for the gag, that which they'd use to silence the piglet once they found it. She looked at him with unease, but still handed it to him; he didn't know if she still had second thoughts, but she wasn't showing it.

He continued to crawl forward, hearing a piglet nearby. It was playing about by the grass, nearby what he thought was a pig nest. Or a pig den. He didn't know what to call it, but he didn't care. He shaped the gag into a loop, and held it down by the ground, his left hand peering through the long grass to finally make sight of their target.

The sister's eyes narrowed on the piglet, unsure whether they ought to be taking it. It didn't seem like it could harm anyone, playing around in the grass without a worry in the world. She didn't have any time to argue against it, as her brother leapt forward, tackling the piglet, and immediately gagged it before it had a chance to squeal. He gestured for her to come closer, so they could bind its legs; she heeded her brother's command, and pulled a strand of rope from her shoulder, tying it around its legs.

She glanced up, worried that the other pigs would see. She could hear them, but the grass seemed to cover the pair from their view. That means it was rather easy for her brother to grasp it by it's abdomen and drag it along underarm. It kept making muffled grunts, and its eyes darted around, filled with fear; she didn't know if they could feel fear, like she and her brother could, but those eyes weren't lying to her.

Her brother pointed back toward the woods, telling her to go ahead and keep an eye out; they couldn't be spotted, not once they had gotten their prize. She nodded, grasping the bone blade she had tied on her belt. She didn't know if she'd have to use it, but she knew how to. Before she went on, she momentarily looked back at the piglet as it was held in her brother's arm, and couldn't help but feel a little sympathy. No one deserved to be taken from their home- even pigs.

* * *

The brother did not have slow feet; to be slow enough to be caught would be a greater dishonour than being spotted in the first place. But he wasn't spotted, because he was quiet, and he knew how to make the piglet shut up. He held it under his arm, muffling it's face into his tunic, not enough to suffocate it, but enough to make sure any sound made was indistinguishable from the rustling of the afternoon breeze through the long grasses. The grassy field was large, but he and his sister crossed it without issue; the cover it provided was a blessing for them, and as hard as it made it for them to find the piglet in the first place, the fact they wouldn't be seen was far more valuable in his eyes.

By the time they had reached the edge of the woods, and thus, the place where he could relax a little, he could hear the cries and squeals of other pigs; perhaps they realised the piglet was gone. They were too slow though, and they wouldn't have the chance to catch up; the siblings didn't relax, as much as the brother might have wanted to. They needed to get as far away from the other pigs as they could, before they even considered going after the piglet. The piglet stayed quiet enough that he was able to hold it over his shoulder, and though it was heavy, he was still able to keep his feet firmly on the ground.

The sister kept her eyes peeled, knowing that they could have been followed. All sorts of dangerous things were down in the valley, away from the safety of their village, where they had safety in numbers. They hadn't been attacked in a long time, and because of that, she felt safer with every passing moment they got closer to home. The sun was still quite high in the sky, but she knew with the small, but heavy piglet in her brother's arms, they wouldn't be as fast as they were on the way to take it.

When they got up a little higher, she turned to face him, taking a deep breath out before she spoke for the first time since they reached the grassy field, "Do you want me to carry the piglet?"

"What? I can carry it." he growled at her, seemingly offended by her offer.

She gestured down the hill, "You ran all the way up the hill." she acknowledged his efforts, "You're just going to tire yourself out."

He looked at her with contempt, not wanting to give up the piglet; he wanted to be the one doing the work, but even then, she could see the sweat on his cheeks, and hear the pant of his breath.

"Fine." he conceded to her wishes, handing her the piglet, who she held up, looking it in the eye.

It was less afraid of her than it was of him, but that didn't mean that it wasn't afraid. It moved about and grunted, and she tightened her grip on it, patting its head, unsure how to calm a piglet. Maybe it was like any other little child, something she'd had a little experience with. She tried to hush it, but it continued to grunt, her brother rolling his eyes, watching her unsuccessfully attempt to calm it.

"I don't think we're going to have much luck with that."

"Oh, did you want to try and calm it?" she asked him in return; he shrugged his shoulders, turning and began walking up the hill, back the way they came.

"No. I don't like pigs." he simply told her, leaving her with the piglet, unsure what to do.

She turned down to look it in the eyes, "I'm sorry." she tried to apologise, unsure whether it could even understand her; it grumbled a little, but remained calmer than it had been before.

She held it close to her chest, hoping that by muffling it, it might calm down a little; it didn't do much good, but she didn't have a better option. She would hold the piglet, and it wouldn't be harmed; that was all she could assure it.

* * *

The brother could hear the running water of the stream once more, and he smiled, realising that he'd have an opportunity to fill his waterskin. He needed a drink badly, after all the walking he had done; he increased his pace, pulling the waterskin from his belt; when he reached the silty bank of the creek, he slid down it, before putting his skin into the water, right on the surface to try and ensure there was as little dirt in it as possible. He felt the weight of the waterskin increase, and once it was heavy enough, he lifted it up and took a swig from it; the water tasted like crap, but he didn't complain, seeing that it was all he could get. He turned back to face his sister, who was still walking behind with the piglet under her arm.

"Come and get some water. I'll hold the piglet." he suggested, his sister giving an appreciative nod; it squirmed as she lessened her grip, handing it over to him.

The brother glared at the piglet, putting his hand behind its neck to fasten the gag, warning it to not make any more sounds. It looked him in the eyes, and he turned away; he didn't want to look at it, not wanting to think of it in any other way other than a prize to be had. Maybe it wasn't a prize, but something more useful than that; he didn't know what it was really for, but he knew that it must have been important. Sending two uninitiated down to get a piglet was a big deal, given that they were by themselves; most hunters wouldn't dare go down where they had unless they were feeling really confident.

The sister tried to ignore the grunts of the piglet as she ran her waterskin through the stream, eagerly taking a drink, wiping the wetness from her lips as she turned back to face her brother; the sun was getting low in the sky, and they would need to be back at the village before the sun set. She heard a loud though unintelligible vocalisation in the distance, and she realised when she heard the piglet muffle a squeal that somebody was coming for the piglet. Her brother immediately set into action, charging forward and leaping across the shallow river, looking back toward her with a fearful glare.

"Come on! We need to get out of here!" he demanded of her, and with that, she rose to her feet; without the piglet in her arms, she found it a lot easier to follow after her brother.

She didn't dare look back; wasting a moment was something she knew could get her in a far worse situation. She did not want to trifle with the kind who would come after a piglet; the worst kind, those that she feared, and those that she knew her brother thought would be waiting for them when they had come for the piglet. So she ran, and she did not stop running until she couldn't hear their shouts no more. Silence was the greatest privilege they could find in the forest, and at that moment she was desperate for it.

* * *

The brother knew the short-cut was a bad idea, but it was their only option; he knew they were being chased, or more accurately, the piglet was being chased. Stealing it was a bad idea if it didn't come from the elders, and in the past, he'd been told to stay well away from them; he guessed that maybe their reasons for not doing so had faded over time. Their village had not had a good few years; hunters and warriors had died, and he didn't want to be the one getting cremated, or having his body dragged around by whoever got their hands on him.

The sheer rock face just seemed like a bad idea to begin with, but had enough ledges that climbing up with the piglet was reasonable, if not a little dangerous. His sister was not protesting his idea, and he gestured for her to climb; she did so, not without looking back the way they had come.

"You think they'll stop here?" she asked him, fearful of what might come if they didn't escape.

"They would be best to do so. The village is just up here; I don't think anyone's going like them being around." he gestured up the rock face; it was a slight exaggeration, but climbing up the escarpment was the quickest way to their village, and thus, to safety.

She climbed up one of them ledges, and turned around at once, offering her hands out to take the piglet into her hands; he raised it up, despite its grunts and muffled protests, allowing his sister to take it into her arms. He glanced back, hearing the sound of footsteps in the distance; they were getting close- too close. Kneeling over, he reached for a large rock that had broken off of the rock face, and raised it up with his right hand; arching his arm back, he eyed the area to their left, hoping that the sound would draw their pursuers.

The sister watched the rock fly from her brother's hand, and cringed at the sound it made shattering off in the distance; he had a good throwing arm, probably from all the practice he had done with spears, and he quickly turned back to the ledge, pulling himself up. She began to climb further, placing the piglet on each higher ledge as she made her way up, glancing down a few times to check if they were still being pursued; she could hear voices in the distance, but she didn't see a single eye on them. That meant they were safe, at least for that moment. When she got to the highest ledge, she was able to finally rest, taking a deep breath as her brother continued on behind her, his hands covered in cuts from his relatively quick ascent. He held his hands together, looking back down the way they had come, and made a small smile.

"We got out." he mumbled, the sister grasping the piglet, and raising it back up into her arms; it was less clam than it had been before, which was understandable, given how much she had moved it around.

"And we got it."

* * *

The brother and the sister were welcomed with open arms by their elders, who declared their pride in their actions. They had done it, and the sun had yet to set. They decreed they would get their tattoos, as was customary, on the next evening, where they would have a dinner made in their honour. The brother was just glad he had gotten back with both the piglet and his sister, while she was relieved her brother hadn't accidentally killed their prize. The brother was commended by the other boys of the village for his valour and quick wit, though he was quick to try and deflate his achievement; many a man or woman had killed a pig before, and taking a piglet had to be easier than that. His sister agreed, knowing that taking a life would be too harsh; the piglet did not deserve that, and its squeals had calmed once it had been given a place to rest, where it wouldn't run off from. Despite their achievement, she didn't know why exactly they had done all they had, and decided to ask the elders; they looked at her with sorrowful faces.

The children of their village had been taken too many times by the pigs, and the pigs had killed their young men and women, who went to defend their lands from those incurring upon it. The valley had once been theirs, but now it belonged to the pigs. The piglet was a prize for them, so they could teach a pig of the wrong ways of its kind, and so the pigs may one day learn of their own goodness. They would no longer attack them, and harvest and reap their land for all its natural beauty and riches. The sister was happier than ever that she had cared for the piglet's safety, knowing that her kindness may mean in turn that the piglet could grow into a kinder pig than the ones they knew.

* * *

_"Children of my child, you must steal the piglets. The pigs will reap the seeds of suffering they have sown."_

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, whoever's reading this. This is the first bit of original fiction I've posted online, or at least that which I feel comfortable with. It's actually part of the same universe as a much longer piece of original fiction I've been writing, which is where the conlang at the beginning comes from. I hope you enjoyed this little bit of prose, which I thought up in the span of a single afternoon.


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